CLIFFORD, HENRY de, second Earl of Cumberland, sixteenth Lord Clifford, twelfth Baron of Westmoreland, and third Baron Vesci (d. 1570), was the eldest son of Henry de Clifford, first earl of Cumberland [q. v.], by Margaret, daughter of Henry Percy, fifth earl of Northumberland. He succeeded to his father's titles in April 1542. He was made a knight of the Bath at the time of Anne Boleyn's coronation, on which occasion he is styled 'Lorde Clyfforde' (30-31 May 1533) (Hall, 799). In 1537 he married Eleanor Brandon, daughter of Charles Brandon [q. v.], duke of Suffolk The expenses of this alliance seriously impoverished his estate, and obliged him to alienate 'the great manor of Temedbury, co. Herreford, the oldest estate then remaining in the family.' On the death of his first wife he retired to the country, and succeeded in increasing his paternal inheritance. Whitaker tells a curious story, from the family manuscripts at Appleby: that he was on one occasion, while in a trance, laid out and covered with a hearse-cloth ready for burial. He slowly recovered, after having for a month or more been fed with milk from a woman's breast. He is said to have been a strong man in later life (Whitaker, 336-8; Dugdale, 344-5).

After his retirement in 1547 he is said to have visited the court only thrice: at Queen Mary's coronation, on his daughter's marriage, and again soon after Queen Elizabeth's accession (Whitaker, 338). In July 1561 he and Lord Dacre, his father-in-law, were accused of protecting the popish priests in the north. A similar charge was advanced in February 1562. He was in 1569 strongly opposed to the contemplated marriage of Mary Queen of Scots and the Duke of Norfolk, and readily promised support to the great rebellion of that year. In May 1569 he was in London. As the year wore on he gave in his adherence to the scheme for proclaiming Mary queen of England; but when the critical moment arrived he did not act with vigour, but as a 'crazed man, leaving his tenants to the leadership of Leonard Dacres' (Froude, vii. 469, ix. 412, 446, 449, 511). According to Dugdale, he even assisted Lord Scrope in fortifying Carlisle against the rebels (i. 345). He died shortly after 8 Jan. 1569-70, at Brougham Castle, and was buried at Skipton (ib.), where his skeleton was seen by Whitaker in March 1803. It is described as being that 'of a very tall and slender man.' 'Something of the face might still be distinguished, and a long prominent nose was very conspicuous' (pp. 430-1).

The second Earl of Cumberland is described by his daughter as having 'a good library,' being 'studious in all manner of learning, and much given to alchemy.' His first wife was Eleanor Brandon, mentioned above (d. November 1547); his second Anne (d. July 1581), daughter of William, third lord Dacre of Gillesland. By his first wife he had a daughter, Margaret (b. 1540), who on 7 Feb. 1555 married Henry Stanley, afterwards fourth Earl of Derby. This Margaret in 1557 was looked upon as the legal heir to the English crown by many Englishmen (Cal. of State Papers, Venetian, ed.Rawdon Brown, p.1707). By his second wife he had two sons, George [q. v.] and Francis, respectively third and fourth earls of Cumberland, and a daughter, Frances (1556-1592), who married Philip, lord Wharton. Dugdale mentions two other daughters, Eleanor and Mary, by his second wife, and two other sons, Henry and Charles, by his first, all of whom died young Whitaker, 343, &c.; Dugdale, i. 345).